A beautiful day in the neighborhood...

These past few weeks have made me really proud to be a part of our neighborhood.

Unfortunately, our dear next-door neighbor, Chuck was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly after Christmas. It was especially disturbing as his sister died from the disease only a year ago. But, it was heart-warming to watch our neighborhood come together.

As Chuck's family came in to move him to North Carolina for treatment, neighbors stopped by to help in so many ways. Even former residents of the street sent cards. When the final moving day came, neighbors, some of whom had never even met the couple before, packed the U-Haul and sent them on their way. One neighbor couldn't be there himself, so he sent two employees from his shop to do the lifting and loading. As many challenges as Chuck and his wonderful wife Evelyn are facing right now, I hope it helped them to feel cared for at this time.

It's always in the back of our mind that we plan to move back to the Midwest someday, to be closer to our family. And our neighborhood is not without its challenges--it's still a street with many different people living very close together. That alone is difficult at times. But we so value the community here and are grateful for the comfort it provides. Thanks, neighbors!